[RE-wrenches] Awkward Mid-clamps & jigs for installing or, removing modules?

Ray Walters ray at solarray.com
Fri Jan 18 15:01:27 PST 2013


Hi Hilton;

Can you share any Pics?  Sounds just like what I was thinking of making.

Ray Walters

On 1/18/2013 3:40 PM, Hilton Dier III wrote:
> I made a pair of jigs out of some two foot lengths of 20-80 (That 1" 
> square aluminum extrusion with bolt slots on each side) and some 
> unequal-leg angle. I cut some 1" long pieces of 3"x 6" and 2" x 3" 
> aluminum angle, two each. Then I drilled the short legs and bolted a 
> long and a short angle to one side of each piece of 80-20.
>
> To suspend a module I adjust the distance between the two angles, 
> tighten them down, slide the jigs (short angle first) flat up under 
> the bottom rail, and tip them up 90 degrees. The short angles hook on 
> the rail and the module can rest on the long angles. I can adjust them 
> for any module and it's a lot easier to get the array aligned.
>
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2013 11:35:56 -0600
> From: "William Dorsett"<wmdorsett at sbcglobal.net>
> To: "'RE-wrenches'"<re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org>
> Subject: [RE-wrenches] Awkward Mid-clamps & jigs for installing or
>     removing    modules?
> Message-ID: <004101cdf5a2$460a7550$d21f5ff0$@net>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> Single-handed mounting for replacing or installing modules on racks. My
> helper installing an array on an Iron Ridge rack commented (like so 
> many of
> you have surely thought) that the mid-clamps are really clumsy. His
> suggestion was that on his, he would lengthen the rail and only use end
> clamps so each module would be independently mounted, removed or the 
> Enphase
> replaced. Of course this would apply to UniRack and other mid-clamps too.
> Can anyone recommend a jig for supporting the line of modules, while they
> are individually being clamped or unclamped? Perhaps a long length of Al
> angle braced back to the rail, so the bottoms of the modules can sit in a
> straight line while they are being clamped. Even a couple sliding 
> Z-shaped
> spring hooks that can support the bottoms might work one module at a 
> time as
> long as the rail is s
>




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